Fed rebel warns businesses to stop 'whining' about a shortage of workers

Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari speaks during an interview at Reuters in New YorkThomson Reuters

It's
an all-too common refrain among US corporations: we have jobs
available, but simply can't find qualified workers to fill them.

Economists, including top Federal Reserve officials, lend
credibility to this dubious claim by arguing there is a "skills
gap" among US workers that is preventing firms from finding
employees with the right backgrounds.

However, ample research and basic common sense suggests that wage
stagnation, which has dominated the US job landscape in recent
decades, is a symptom of an anemic labor market, not a fully
recovered one.

Credit to Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari for pointing
that out during a speech to business leaders on Monday.

"Are any of you planning to raise wages in the next year or
two? Or are you just complaining about you can't find workers?"
Kashkari asked the group. "If you look at North
Dakota in the oil boom - if you raise wages, people respond and
you can find workers."

Consistent with this perspective, Kashkari, a voting member
on this year's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee, has
dissented against both of the Fed's interest rate increases this
year. Among other factors, he would like to wait see US
inflation, which has been slipping below the central bank's 2%
target, heading solidly toward the Fed's official price stability
goal.